Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Who says libraries aren't exciting?

I was sitting in my office yesterday when I heard a scratching noise coming from above my head. I looked up toward the overhead vent to see what it could be. I suddenly felt as if I were in a horror movie and some terrible alien was going to come bursting through the ceiling. All I could do was stare up and hope that I would somehow be spared. As suddenly as it began, the scratching stopped. What could it be? A little mouse or perhaps a bird stuck in our ventilation system?

This morning I was informed by our maintenance supervisor that we have a "critter" in the library. It had feasted during the night on our crackers and candy bars in the staff lounge. I can just picture him laying satiated on his back, rubbing his full belly with chocolate smeared on his furry, little mouth.

The maintenance supervisor thought it was a large critter - a rat or a possum or maybe a raccoon. A little searching was done and sure enough, raccoon tracks were found in the building currently being remodeled. I think a raccoon is a little bit better than a rat, but now the hunt is on.